The Sunlight Foundation is celebrating its ninth anniversary this week, and it’s particularly special for me. As the new president of Sunlight, this is the first time I’ve been able to participate in this annual milestone and celebrate as a part of this amazing team of people. Sunlight has such a legacy of success, and I’m excited to be leading the charge as we move forward. It’s been incredible to see the support and passion from all of our fellow Sunlighters like you that have made this journey possible, so thank you!

We’re building on all of Sunlight’s past success and have big plans for the coming year. Thanks to our work with municipal staff and officials, 37 cities have already adopted open data policies. We’re now preparing to expand on this effort through a multi-year, national effort to bring more open data practice and policy to mid-sized American cities. Recently, in response to our Freedom of Information Act request, the United States government began to release what is likely the largest index of government data in the world. And speaking of FOIA, we’re continuing to fight for much needed reform to improve and modernize this cornerstone of disclosure law. We’re also gearing up for the 2016 election by buffing up our tools to better empower you to follow the money and influence in what is predicted to be the most expensive U.S. election in history.